Pirated Movie App Disguised as Vision Test Snuck Onto App Store

A vision testing app named "Kimi" with a not-so-hidden pirated movie feature recently made its way past Apple's review team, ultimately reaching number eight on the list of top free entertainment apps.

kimi app
As reported by The Verge, Kimi's App Store listing claimed that it was an app that "tests your eyesight," but when downloaded and installed, it opened right up to a clear TV show and movie interface for downloading and watching pirated content. There was no attempt to hide the app's true purpose behind some kind of vision test interface, which begs the question of how it made its way past the ‌App Store‌ review team.

The ‌App Store‌ description mentioned comparing two pictures as an eyesight test, watching scenery, and playing games, but none of those features were present in the app.

For an app focused on pirated content, Kimi had a fleshed out feature set. It offered top movies, search options, recommended suggestions, games, and more, with ads included for monetization purposes. The app was first approved in September, and it was available for several months in the iOS and macOS App Stores without Apple noticing.

Apple pulled the app this morning after The Verge wrote about it, and it is no longer available.

This is the second time in the last week that Apple's ‌App Store‌ has made headlines for questionable app approval. Last Thursday, popular password management app LastPass raised the alarm about a fake "LassPass" app that was imitating its design and feature set. Apple pulled the app about a day after the news was shared on media sites.

Popular Stories

iphone 17 dummies sonny dickson

iPhone 17 Air Almost as Thin as Its Buttons, New Images Show

Thursday April 24, 2025 2:14 am PDT by
If you missed the video showing dummy models of Apple's all-new super thin iPhone 17 Air that's expected later this year, Sonny Dickson this morning shared some further images of the device in close alignment with the other dummy models in the iPhone 17 lineup, indicating just how thin it is likely to be in comparison. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be around 5.5mm thick – with a thicker ...
iphone 17 air dummy unbox therapy

iPhone 17 Air's Extreme Thinness Demoed in New Video

Tuesday April 22, 2025 10:22 am PDT by
Apple plans to release an all-new super thin iPhone this year, debuting it alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We've seen pictures of dummy models, cases, and renders with the design, but Lewis Hilsenteger of Unbox Therapy today showed off newer dummy models that give us a better idea of just how thin the "iPhone 17 Air" will be. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be ...
AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 13 New Features

Wednesday April 23, 2025 8:31 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
ipad air windows 11 arm

M2 iPad Air Runs Windows 11 ARM via Emulation, Thanks to EU Rules

Tuesday April 22, 2025 5:01 am PDT by
A developer has demonstrated Windows 11 ARM running on an M2 iPad Air using emulation, which has become much easier since the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) regulations came into effect. As spotted by Windows Latest, NTDev shared an instance of the emulation on social media and posted a video on YouTube (embedded below) demonstrating it in action. The achievement relies on new EU regulatory...
iPhone 17 Air Pastel Feature

iPhone 17 Air Launching Later This Year With These 16 New Features

Thursday April 24, 2025 8:24 am PDT by
While the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" is not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the ultra-thin device. Overall, the iPhone 17 Air sounds like a mixed bag. While the device is expected to have an impressively thin and light design, rumors indicate it will have some compromises compared to iPhone 17 Pro models, including only a single rear camera, a...
Global Close Your Rings Day Pin

Apple Stores Giving Away a Limited-Edition Pin For Free Today

Thursday April 24, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Starting today, April 24, Apple Stores around the world are giving away a special pin for free to customers who request one, while supplies last. Photo Credit: Filip Chudzinski The enamel pin's design is inspired by the Global Close Your Rings Day award in the Activity app, which Apple Watch users can receive by closing all three Activity rings today. The limited-edition pin is the physical...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...

Top Rated Comments

Fuzzball84 Avatar
16 months ago
Maybe it was intended to test the vision of the App store team… they were found not to be vision pros ?
Score: 78 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Populus Avatar
16 months ago
If something as evident as this made its way to the App Store, who knows what else could be hidden on other apps…
Score: 51 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Nermal Avatar
16 months ago
I wonder whether this might have been an app effectively wrapping a website. Have a "clean" website when the app's being reviewed, and then swap it out to the other one once it's passed approval. It wouldn't be the first time a developer's pulled that sort of stunt.

Or it could be total incompetence...
Score: 39 Votes (Like | Disagree)
erikkfi Avatar
16 months ago

There needs to be accountability. They know who clicked "Approve". That person needs to be brought in for their own review and enhanced training.

Apple should publish this type of info — "Johnny B. approved this app on March 7, 2023". Put the name out there for the public to see.
What...? You're advocating Apple routinely doxx their own employees just in case one makes a mistake, so that we can all see exactly who, by name, to blame instead of the trillion-dollar company setting strict performance metrics on review times?
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
icanhazmac Avatar
16 months ago
I wonder what/who is to blame here. Does Apple place an unrealistic goal of apps per day on their testers or did one of these folks wake up one day feeling a little lazy?

It has to be tough managing this at scale but Apple needs to do a better job. These optics are horrible.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
coffeemilktea Avatar
16 months ago
I logged onto MacRumors early this morning and the first article I saw was about another streaming service charging people more and giving them less ('https://www.macrumors.com/2024/02/13/amazon-prime-video-dolby-vision-atmos/').

I logged onto MacRumors after dinner and now I see an article about a piracy app that could let me watch all the shows I wanted for free, except it was pulled from the App Store this morning.

There has to be some kind of ironic twist of fate here... ?
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)